Impact of orthognathic surgery on quality of life in patients with different dentofacial deformities: longitudinal study of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) with at least 1 year of follow-up: longitudinal study of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) with at least 1 year of follow-up

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of orthognathic surgery for dental facial deformities on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in the immediate postoperative period up to at least 1 year after surgery. Study design: This prospective study evaluated data from 85 patients. OHRQoL was assessed using the Dutch version of the Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-14NL) preoperatively (T ₀), each day for 7 days postoperatively (T ₁–T ₇) and 4 weeks (T ₈), 6 months (T ₉), and at least 1 year (T ₁₀) after surgery. The total OHIP score was calculated for each patient, with higher OHIP scores indicating a worse impact on oral health. Patients also completed an extra questionnaire about self-care, discomfort, and experienced pain (rated on a 10-point scale) in the postoperative period (T ₁–T ₁₀). Results: The mean OHIP score increased sharply at T ₁ compared to T ₀ but decreased significantly in the first postoperative week. The mean OHIP score at T ₈ was still higher than before surgery. However, at T ₉ and T ₁₀, the mean OHIP score was significantly lower than at T ₀ (P <.05). No significant difference in OHIP score was found between gender, age, type of surgery, and indication for surgery. Pain significantly decreased from T ₆ to T ₀. The OHIP and pain scores significantly positively correlated at every time point except T ₉. Conclusion: The findings indicate that OHRQoL is reduced from baseline in the immediate postoperative period but improves over time. By 1 year, OHRQoL improves significantly after orthognathic surgery in patients with dentofacial deformities.